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deposit domestic refuse, litter of all kinds, waste water and faecal matter in the
neighbourhood of the sites occupied. Much time and effort have been given in attempts
to clear them from their usual camping sites but only too often within 24 hours they
are back again.
Under the provisions of the Middlesex County Council Acts, one application
for permission to place a caravan on a site in the Borough for a further period of
one year was granted.
COMMON LODGING HOUSES. There is no common lodging house in the Borough.
CANAL BOATS. The Public Health Inspectors continued their duties as canal
boat inspectors, and made 31 inspections during the year.
FACTORIES, WORKPLACES, etc. The Factories Act placed on the Council certain
duties in regard to (a) outworkers, (b) employment of persons in unwholesome premises;
(c) basement bakehouses; (d) provision of sanitary conveniences in all factories, and
(e) cleanliness, over-crowding, ventilation and drainage of floors in the case of
factories in which mechanical power is not used. A summary of the work done is given
below and in Table X.
Inspection of (a) Factories - mechanical power 345
(b) Factories - non-mechanical power 31
(c) Other premises 4
(d) Outworkers' premises 74
Defects remedied 22
At the end of the year the number of outworkers registered with the Department
was 265, and the trades on which they were engaged were as follows:-
Wearing Apparel 210
Lace, lace curtains and nets 2
Curtains and furniture hangings 13
Furniture and upholstery 2
Brass and brass articles 1
Artificial flowers 1
Carding, etc. of buttons, etc. 20
Stuffed toys 7
Cosaques, Christmas crackers,
Christmas stockings, etc. 9
DISINFESTATION. The Health Department deals with bug and other infestations
in houses and other premises, and for this purpose D.D.T. and other insecticides are
used. During the year, 57 rooms were treated, while 110 wasp nests were destroyed,
10 premises cleared of cockroaches, 2 cleared of ants, and 6 of other insects. Treatment
of ponds and tanks to prevent the breeding of mosquitoes was carried out as
necessary.
NOISE NUISANCE. In the Middlesex County Council Act a noise nuisance is
deemed to exist 'where any person makes or continues or causes to be made or continued
any excessive or unreasonable or unnecessary noise which is injurious or
dangerous to health'. Further, it is a good defence for the person charged to show
that he has used the best practicable means of preventing or mitigating the nuisance,
having regard to the cost and to other relevant circumstances'. Most complaints of
noise nuisance arise in connection with industrial processes carried on in factories
situated close to houses. From the above definition it will be seen that many factors
have to be taken into consideration in judging whether or not a noise is a nuisance
within the meaning of the Act, though there may be no doubt about the annoyance to
residents in the neighbourhood of the factory concerned.
During the year 15 complaints of nuisance from noise were received. Nine
were associated with factories or industrial premises, 3 with self-employed motor
car workers and 3 with other premises. In most cases there appeared to be some justification
for the complaint and, with the co-operation of the firms or persons concerned,
the nuisance was either remedied or some abatement secured.
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